Former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, has urged the media to intensify scrutiny of Nigeria’s port sector and deploy investigative journalism to promote accountability, efficiency and economic growth.
Peterside made the call while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Week in Lagos, themed, “Politics, Ports and Public Interest: The Media’s Catalytic Role in Driving Economic Growth in Nigeria.”
The Lagos-based leadership and management expert said the media had a critical role to play in examining how policies, institutions and investments in the maritime sector affect businesses and the wider Nigerian economy.
According to him, Nigeria’s ports should not be viewed merely as gateways for cargo and revenue collection, but as critical economic infrastructure capable of supporting industrialisation, expanding exports, attracting investment and creating employment opportunities.
Peterside said inefficiencies at the ports had wider economic consequences, noting that delays in cargo clearance and other processes could contribute to higher prices of food, machinery and manufactured goods.
He added that prolonged delays and operational bottlenecks could also weaken business confidence and discourage investment, making efficient port operations essential to Nigeria’s economic competitiveness.
The former NIMASA helmsman said political governance remained important to port performance through regulation, institutional leadership, infrastructure development and effective coordination among agencies operating within the maritime sector.
He, however, cautioned journalists against attributing every operational challenge at the ports to government failure, noting that global shipping is also affected by geopolitical conflicts, adverse weather, port congestion and disruptions along international trade routes.
Peterside challenged journalists to distinguish between policy failures and external shocks, urging them to move beyond reporting official announcements and investigate whether government policies and commitments were producing measurable results.
He called for sustained media monitoring of critical port-performance indicators, including cargo dwell time, vessel turnaround, cargo clearance periods, inspection delays, documented charges, export processing and concession performance.
The former NIMASA director-general also advocated the publication of quarterly port-performance scorecards, while urging journalists to track government contracts, concessions, public expenditure and official commitments until their outcomes could be independently established.
Peterside further called for stronger technical capacity among maritime correspondents, particularly in data journalism, maritime regulation, public procurement and international trade, noting that the reported 24.8 per cent increase in cargo throughput between 2024 and 2025 should not, on its own, be interpreted as evidence of wider economic prosperity.